SportsNote, with special guest, Brian Benton

[GoneGolfin]

Brian,

I caught the interview on the net today. Great job, as others have said. I found it interesting Coach Szefc complimented SEBaseball.com, not once but about four times. I'm going to check it out.

JD

Thanks Dad04. Yes, you should check it out. Lots of good stuff, much of it is free of charge. Although I do not get a chance to write as much as I have in the past, I do enjoy doing it. SEBaseball.com has many talented and passionate writers (notably Mark Etheridge) covering different parts of the country and one key person behind the scenes helping make it all come together (Paul Kislanko).

Brian

[snote]

as luck may have it we are scheduled to "do it again".. in the morning (4-22)

so look forward to some help with calls.. coach sfecz says his dad is in town and will also be with us..

or one can post any questions in here... and i'll pass them on..

thanks..

[snote]

my thanks go out to brian and coach szefc for their time and insight today..

i tried my best to stay out of their way

sportsnoteradio.com
http://sportsnoteradio.com/archives/...fri_042205.mp3

[Turner]

my thanks go out to brian and coach szefc for their time and insight today..

Mine as well

[GoneGolfin]

Mine as well

Thank you. BTW, if anyone has questions they would like to ask but were unable, go ahead and shoot a question in this thread. I will try my best to answer.

Brian

[Turner]

Thank you. BTW, if anyone has questions they would like to ask but were unable, go ahead and shoot a question in this thread. I will try my best to answer.

Brian

Just want your opinion, on why so few scholarships in baseball?

[CajunKahouna]

my thanks go out to brian and coach szefc for their time and insight today..

i tried my best to stay out of their way

sportsnoteradio.com
http://sportsnoteradio.com/archives/...fri_042205.mp3

Excellent show again, Snote; but hang in there man cause without you it just doesn't hang together.

[GoneGolfin]

Just want your opinion, on why so few scholarships in baseball?

I believe the primary reason is due to funding. Not many baseball programs are in the black and scholarships cost the school. Many baseball programs count on football and/or basketball to fund them. Although in the South, some programs benefit from state scholarships for in-state students that are not counted toward the scholarship limit. This has also been the source of some controversy.

Brian

[cajun1300]

Brian,

Excellent show with Snote last week, unfortunately I haven't heard today's show, but I'll listen to the archive later this afternoon.

Two questions:

1) How do you think Southeast and Texas baseball compares to West Coast baseball this year? I find that Boyd Nation's ISRs seem to have a West Coast bias because so many inferior Western teams are rated higher strictly due to their Strength of Schedule. Or is this maybe just an anomaly for this season.

2) How do feel the Cajuns' pitching depth stacks up against the rest of the likely #1 & #2 seeds (exluding Tulane)?

[GoneGolfin]

Brian,

Excellent show with Snote last week, unfortunately I haven't heard today's show, but I'll listen to the archive later this afternoon.

Two questions:

1) How do you think Southeast and Texas baseball compares to West Coast baseball this year? I find that Boyd Nation's ISRs seem to have a West Coast bias because so many inferior Western teams are rated higher strictly due to their Strength of Schedule. Or is this maybe just an anomaly for this season.

2) How do feel the Cajuns' pitching depth stacks up against the rest of the likely #1 & #2 seeds (exluding Tulane)?

Thanks cajun1300 ...

#1 As far as the ISR is concerned, I think there may be some bias in favor of the West Coast schools. But I think there is less bias in favor of these schools than there is bias against these schools in the RPI. The RPI is particularly brutal to the West coast due to the relative scarcity of inter-regional play for western schools. While I am not a fan of either the ISR nor the RPI, I think the ISR does a slightly better job. But I also think that as more games are played, the systems come closer together.

If you look at last season, the ISR did a better job with respect to predicting the two teams in the finals of the CWS. Both had Texas as #1, but the ISR had the national champions Titans at #3 while the RPI had them at #7. The RPI did a little better with the Top 5, but totally missed on Arizona. The RPI certainly underrated the west coast last season.

As we stand today, I think you have a case where the RPI is drastically underrating the West. Arizona State is the highest rated team out West at #9 (and ASU is overrated due to their SOS). Only four western schools are in the Top 20 with Long Beach State and Cal State-Fullerton #19 and #20 respectively. Arizona is at #25. That is nuts.

I think that the ISR has Cal State-Fullerton and Long Beach State about right. But I do think Oregon State, Southern Cal, and Arizona State are overrated.

Overall, I think the Southeast and Texas has more quality programs due to the sheer number of overall programs. I think that Stanford and Arizona State are down in a major way this season. But Cal State-Fullerton will contend for the title again this year, especially after they get Schreppel back (Saturday starter). Southern Cal started slow, but is playing good baseball. And I think Arizona will likely be back in the CWS. Finally, Oregon State has been a big surprise and has two starters that together are arguably better than anyone in the country.

That said, if I had to pick a winner this year, I would pick Texas. Just imagine if the Longhorns would not have lose their ace (LeCure) before the season started.

#2 To answer this question, I am going to break this into ...
a) #1 and #2 starters
b) quality of remaining pitching staff (including #3 starter, middle relief, and closers)

I split this up because your #1 and #2 starters can get you into the championship round of the regional undefeated and outright win a super-regional. #1 and #2 starters are also more important in today's format of the CWS.

I am using Mark's current #1 and #2 seed projections.

There are a few schools that have a slight advantage in the #1/#2 spots of the rotation ...

Texas
Oregon State
Cal State-Fullerton (with Schreppel healthy)
Long Beach State
Tennessee

Schools that I think match the Cajun #1/#2 starters

TCU
Rice
Miami
North Carolina
Vanderbilt
South Carolina
Nebraska

Schools that have an advantage/depth for the remainder of the pitching staff ...

Texas
Auburn
Florida
Florida State
Alabama
Baylor
Rice
Tulane
Mississippi State
Long Beach State
North Carolina
Vanderbilt
South Carolina
Arkansas
Southern Cal
Nebraska
Clemson

Schools that have similar quality for the remainder of the pitching staff ...

Cal State-Fullerton
Pepperdine
Mississippi
Miami
LSU
Tennessee


Brian